Windows Installer issue
Today, my Windows 7 Professional 64-bit notebook is no longer able to install programs which require Windows Installer. This hasn't happened before. Any such installation is terminated, after a few moments, with the brief appearance of a dialog saying "Canceling". I've made many changes to the system, recently, mainly relating to Microsoft Office software. SFC / scannow did not help. Microsoft Program Install/Uninstall repair utility reported that it fixed corrupt registry patch keys, but the issue persists.
ASKER
Thank you. Looking at the Event Viewer, each time I attempted an installation, there appear to be two entries. The first entry says that the product was installed (which is not the case). Immediately following: Failed extract of third-party root list from auto update cab at: (next is a long link to an online .cab in Windows Update) with error. A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider. This exact error occurs with any software I attempt to install with Windows Installer.
I don't know if this is related to the issue, but it seems to coincide with it.
I don't know if this is related to the issue, but it seems to coincide with it.
if the problem is recent, a system restore can help you out
ASKER
Thank you. This is a notebook where I migrated data and applications from another laptop, using ZInstall. The problem appears to have started right then.
Here is what I saw in Event Viewer, after a failed attempt at software installation...
Failed extract of third-party root list from auto-update cab at:
http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/authrootstl.cab with error: A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.
Steps I have tried:
1. Downloading the cab which was referenced in Event Viewer, and importing the certificate list into Trusted Root Certification Authorities in Microsoft Management Console. This appears to have simply duplicated what was already there, and did not resolve the error.
2. Exporting trusted certificates from a working notebook, and importing them into the problem laptop, which also did not help.
3. Applying 108 Windows Updates, which were missing from this computer. This is still in process.
On a possibly-related note, I was seeing a command window popup, often, showing that .NET Framework installutil.exe was running. I disabled that, and tried to install an application again. The setup was still automatically canceled, but Event Viewer no longer shows an error related to trusted certificates. It now says the installation failed because the user canceled, which is not true.
Here is what I saw in Event Viewer, after a failed attempt at software installation...
Failed extract of third-party root list from auto-update cab at:
http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/authrootstl.cab with error: A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.
Steps I have tried:
1. Downloading the cab which was referenced in Event Viewer, and importing the certificate list into Trusted Root Certification Authorities in Microsoft Management Console. This appears to have simply duplicated what was already there, and did not resolve the error.
2. Exporting trusted certificates from a working notebook, and importing them into the problem laptop, which also did not help.
3. Applying 108 Windows Updates, which were missing from this computer. This is still in process.
On a possibly-related note, I was seeing a command window popup, often, showing that .NET Framework installutil.exe was running. I disabled that, and tried to install an application again. The setup was still automatically canceled, but Event Viewer no longer shows an error related to trusted certificates. It now says the installation failed because the user canceled, which is not true.
ZInstall is the issue here, it tries hard to migrate everything and settings but there are some registry and file locations that Win 10 updates now hide from it (and programmes like it) - and it simply isn't 100% at what it does.
Try reinstalling Windows Installer itself
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=8483
That should renew the certificate keychain
Afraid you'll probably get more instances of glitches like this because of the copying process. Consider a Windows Repair (retaining programs and data) when you've time.
Try reinstalling Windows Installer itself
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=8483
That should renew the certificate keychain
Afraid you'll probably get more instances of glitches like this because of the copying process. Consider a Windows Repair (retaining programs and data) when you've time.
i suggest a repair install http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html
it fixes many problems
it fixes many problems
ASKER
Thank you both. I'll try installing the Installer first. If that fails, I'll perform a repair install. I'll post afterwards, though there may be a delay before I accomplish that.
ASKER
I'm finding that there is no redistributable version of Windows Installer 5, which is the applicable version for Windows 7. I'll try the repair installation...
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ASKER
Follow up note: using MSConfig, and enabling the same startup applications and services as I found enabled on the source computer, Windows Installer has begun working. I can't say which application(s) or service(s) were preventing that, because many of them were disabled. Thanks to all experts for participating.
As an aside, previously neglected to rate the expert's helpfulness, but I've done so now.
As an aside, previously neglected to rate the expert's helpfulness, but I've done so now.
Also, you can assign a log file as a parameter when installing the MSI. Can you post one of such a log file here?